Team Goemkarponn
MAPUSA: Anjuna Police have submitted a 4,150-page chargesheet before the Mapusa court in connection with the fire at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Anjuna, naming Saurav Luthra and Gaurav Luthra as the main accused along with 11 others. The accused have been booked primarily under charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, along with other related offences.
Investigators have cited 306 individuals as public witnesses, and the voluminous chargesheet contains witness statements, expert findings, and documentary evidence gathered during the course of the investigation.
In the course of the probe, Goa Police arrested 13 persons, including the Luthra brothers and their business associate Ajay Gupta, as well as others linked to the operation and regulatory oversight of the establishment. Among those arrested were former Arpora-Nagoa panchayat secretary Raghuvir Bagkar and former sarpanch Roshan Redkar.
Following the incident, the state government initiated disciplinary action against several officials. On December 7, three officials were suspended, including then director/additional director of panchayats Siddhi Tushar Harlankar, Goa State Pollution Control Board member secretary Shamila Monteiro, and Raghuvir Bagkar, whose services were subsequently terminated.
The Goa State Pollution Control Board also suspended two of its staff members — scientific assistant Chaitanya Salgaonkar and junior environmental engineer Vijay Harichandra Kansekar — for allegedly failing to conduct a proper inspection of the premises.
A magisterial inquiry into the fire produced a 108-page report, supported by over 500 pages of annexures and statements, and proposed around 60 recommendations to the state government aimed at strengthening fire safety measures and preventing similar incidents in the future.
The fire broke out at approximately 11:45 pm on December 6, when over 150 tourists were attending an event at the nightclub. Preliminary findings by police and the Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services indicated that the blaze was likely triggered when electric firecrackers used during the event ignited the wooden ceiling, leading to the rapid spread of flames.
